Rear Brakes!

[rwh963]

yes, there are probably hundreds of mentions of brakes scattered throughout this section. trying to cut to the quick. a few weeks ago i had what i thought was a parking brake hang up (and may have been). past couple days i noticed a rotational grinding noise. looked at my rear brakes, and one rotor is seriously gouged. the other looks ok. they were replaced with, i believe OE, about 60k miles ago. i don't yet what has happened. gonna go to toyota and get a tire rotation and have a brake exam done.

anyway, definitely gonna need to at least replace the rear pads and rotors. hopefully the calipers are ok. OE discounted pads and rotors with shim kit is about $200 parts. figure at least $150 labor. should i be looking at any other types of rotors/pads before getting OE?

 

[Too Stroked]

yes, there are probably hundreds of mentions of brakes scattered throughout this section. trying to cut to the quick. a free weeks ago i had what i thought was a parking brake hang up (and may have been). past couple days i noticed a rotational grinding noise. looked at my rear brakes, and one rotor is seriously gouged. the other looks ok. they were replaced with, i believe OE, about 60k miles ago. i don't yet what has happened. gonna go to toyota and get a tire rotation and have a brake exam done.

anyway, definitely gonna need to at least replace the rear pads and rotors. hopefully the calipers are ok. OE discounted pads and rotors with shim kit is about $200 parts. figure at least $150 labor. should i be looking at any other types of rotors/pads before getting OE?

Generally speaking, OEM parts - especially brake parts - are your best bet for quality, performance and durability. Aftermarket has everything from pretty good to really bad. Do you want to take a chance?

As for what may have gone wrong, you might have a frozen caliper. It is possible to rebuild them if you know what you're doing and have the right tools. If you replace them, you'll run into the same quality vs cost issue as I mentioned above.

 

[bob3dsf]

Caliper rebuild is not hard

rebuilding caliper is pretty easy. I just did both my fronts due to frozen pistons (1 on each side, but each happened at different times). All you need is the rebuild kit which includes dust boots, square cut seals, etc. I'd guess the rear kits have the slide pin boots... The kit should come with everything to do both calipers. That s how the front kit comes. The hardest part, probably, will be getting the piston out if its really corroded. the other sorta-difficult part about the rears is the parking brake, when replacing the rotor. You have to retract the shoes with the star nut through the access hole in the rotor.

I was doing something to mine a few years ago (I forget what) but I wanted to take off the rotor, maybe to check the parking brake shoes. I didn't have the shoes retracted all the way and didn't realize it. I thought it was jammed on so I used a bolt to thread in one of those holes and push it off, but I used on impact driver. It came off but so did all the parking brake stuff. I had to figure out how to put all that stuff back on. It was late in the afternoon, Had to work the next day... you get the picture...

If your piston is stuck in there, use the hydraulics of the brake system to push it most of the way out. If its frozen, your piston might be pitted from corrosion. If so you'll need a new one. You can get one from the dealer (they might say you need a whole caliper assembly, you don't, but you might need to research the part number yourself). I looked into getting OEM pistons and they're like $60 per piston from the parts desk. I used 1 new one for each of my front calipers. I got centric pistons from rock auto. They fir just fine. and no issues that I can tell right now.

Once your old piston is out. Clean everything up, use the pink rubber lube that comes with the kit on all the rubber parts, and on the piston. Pop it back in, put all back together.

This is a good video. Our rear calipers are similar to the style in this vid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-6mZLUyWyo

Pretty straight forward. But, People in the rust belt might be better off getting re-manufactured from napa, etc, because of a greater chance for significantly more corrosion.

 

[rwh963]

i think the rebuilt toyota kit is about $35. reman. calipers at toyota are $110 (after core charge). the possible issues with rebuilding old calipers probably out weighs the desire to save money.

i thought it was my parking brake causing issues, but now i think one pad wore faster than the other, and left metal on metal.

gonna try to get an overdue rotation done at a local independent shop (20 vs 35 for toyota), and discuss the brake issue. maybe the rotor can be turned? we'll see.

on a side note, i asked toyota how much to lube the front and rear shafts: they said $130! 1 hour labor charge. i believe i had it done for $20 at another dealer in the past. gotta do this stuff yourself.

 

[triethylborane]

i thought it was my parking brake causing issues, but now i think one pad wore faster than the other, and left metal on metal.

gonna try to get an overdue rotation done at a local independent shop (20 vs 35 for toyota), and discuss the brake issue. maybe the rotor can be turned? we'll see.
.

Maybe, but minimum rear disc thickness is 16mm and max is 18mm. Given your description and not accounting for rotor material loss from pad friction, its probably not a stretch to see new rotors on your rig. RockAuto has a selection from poverty spec to overpriced but there is point which will be worthwhile. Dunno if you can supply parts to your mechanic or not.

 

[rwh963]

update: did the rotation and drive shaft lube ($40). looked at all corners. fronts are thin and need replacing. calipers look good. so, pads and rotors in order for the front.

the rear: both rear calipers are original (220k). one caliper is partially frozen. it wore the pad down to metal. the rotor is shot. the other caliper may be ok.

gonna order rear reman. calipers, rotors, pads, and fit kits. because the parking brake is involved, i will let the shop do the labor (2 hours).

i've never done the brakes myself. thinking i might try the less complicated fronts and save the $170 on labor. anyone have comments on the degree of difficulty doing the fronts? driving safety is paramount, which has always been my hesitation.

 

[randy88fj62]

Front brakes are easy with basic tools and some patience. Expect to spend half a day your first time and read up and look at videos 1-2 days in advance.

I just installed new oem front pads and rotors in under 2 hours two days ago. It's very easy when you wrench on your truck a lot.

1. Wheel off (21mm)
2. brake line mount at spindle off (12mm)
3. Remove brake pan pins and their little clip
4. Use old pads to pry the pistons back into the caliper (you need more room for new pads) pry bar
5. Caliper off (17mm long socket 3/8 ratchet)
6. Remove old rotor and install new one (don't leave your caliper hanging, you will damage your ABS line)
7. Install caliper then put pads in.


Easy enough but be CAREFUL, you are playing with your life if you mess up.

Torque wrench everything down. Wheel 83 ft-lbs, caliper 91 ft-lbs etc.

I missed a few steps but you get the point.

front brake rotors 4351260151
front pads 446535290
metal shims front (aka backing plates) 494535120
upper pin 4774935040
lower pin 9024006158
pin clip 4774935040
anti rattle center wire 494735050

 

[rwh963]

ok, just picked up my parts order from the dealer (tax free NH!). here's the list:

pad kit $49.61
rotor $76 each
fit kit $14
shim kit $19
reman calipers $110 each

called toyota parts. there told me that the calipers are rebuilt by toyota, using toyota parts, and should perform the same as originals.

 

[rwh963]

dropping off the 4runner tomorrow AM for the rear brakes. really bad shape by now. lots of metal dust on the alloy. found a pad backings late in the driveway.
went south fast!

when the tire rotation happened, it was mentioned that the front brakes will need servicing soon as well. calipers are replacements. was told that the rotors should be replaced (60 k on them). was wondering, is just a pad replacement sensible? get more miles out of the rotors? don't want a safety issue, or be penny wise/pound foolish.

also considering doing the fronts myself. never did pads or rotors. would mind saving the two hour labor charge. again, don't want a safety issue, or get hung up and not be able to complete the job.

 

[chompster4runner]

dropping off the 4runner tomorrow AM for the rear brakes. really bad shape by now. lots of metal dust on the alloy. found a pad backings late in the driveway.
went south fast!

when the tire rotation happened, it was mentioned that the front brakes will need servicing soon as well. calipers are replacements. was told that the rotors should be replaced (60 k on them). was wondering, is just a pad replacement sensible? get more miles out of the rotors? don't want a safety issue, or be penny wise/pound foolish.

also considering doing the fronts myself. never did pads or rotors. would mind saving the two hour labor charge. again, don't want a safety issue, or get hung up and not be able to complete the job.

Plenty of YouTube videos on 4Runner brake job. I’m just waiting on the weather to cool down slightly(106) so I can get this done. Got all reman adaptive calipers front and rear from Napa. Buddy works there so, you know. LoL plus oem rotors front and rear because they were on sale from Madera Toyota(Ca)with free shipping. $65 each for the front and about the same for the rears.

 

[rwh963]

mid-repair update: shop is having some issues with using the old brackets (calipers did not come with; separate part for $75/each). making some noise during test drive. gonna try to fix the issue, with pick up pushed until the AM.

i didn't even think of ordering new brackets; unless damaged, i assumed you would re-use the old bracket. thoughts?

 

[rwh963]

got to the shop before closing. so, one bracket is good; the other belonging to the seized caliper caused the slider pins to most likely embed and created some difficulties. the pad backing plate had fallen off, causing the caliper to do the actual braking.

they think they can do the job successfully. i could get a new bracket in a couple of days if needed. i'll find out more in the morning. this is one of the reasons i have a shop do brake labor. i would have been in a tougher spot if i had tried this myself.

 

[chompster4runner]

got to the shop before closing. so, one bracket is good; the other belonging to the seized caliper caused the slider pins to most likely embed and created some difficulties. the pad backing plate had fallen off, causing the caliper to do the actual braking.

they think they can do the job successfully. i could get a new bracket in a couple of days if needed. i'll find out more in the morning. this is one of the reasons i have a shop do brake labor. i would have been in a tougher spot if i had tried this myself.

Man, that sucks. The rear ones I got from Napa came with bracket.

 

[rwh963]

Man, that sucks. The rear ones I got from Napa came with bracket.

yeah, apparently the aftermarket ones come with replacement brackets. i didn't even think about needing brackets. when i opened the caliper box, i saw the caliper and felt something was missing, but didn't pursue the thought.

the indie shop noted that with OE stuff, everything is sold individually.

that said, this vehicle had its front and rear brakes done at 158k. on the front, the indie shop used cardone calipers. what followed was three warranty replacements (with partial labor re-imbursement). that was very frustrating.
so i chose to use OE in the rear.

total parts and labor was $750. more than i hoped it would be, but now its done, hopefully for the life of the vehicle with me.

 

[chompster4runner]

yeah, apparently the aftermarket ones come with replacement brackets. i didn't even think about needing brackets. when i opened the caliper box, i saw the caliper and felt something was missing, but didn't pursue the thought.

the indie shop noted that with OE stuff, everything is sold individually.

that said, this vehicle had its front and rear brakes done at 158k. on the front, the indie shop used cardone calipers. what followed was three warranty replacements (with partial labor re-imbursement). that was very frustrating.
so i chose to use OE in the rear.

total parts and labor was $750. more than i hoped it would be, but now its done, hopefully for the life of the vehicle with me.

No doubt the OE does last granted I live in a sunny state. My OE are over 10 years in the rears. Good luck and many happy trips on the 4Runner.

 

[rwh963]

new update: one of the rear calipers loosened up on the lower bracket, so that it was rotating during braking. brought it back to the shop. they added some locktite to the pin, but said that using the old brackets was the reason. they were good about suggesting that if i buy the new brackets they would install at no additional charge (i did post out that the job cost more due to them working on the old brackets). ordered and picked up the rear brackets from toyota ($75/ea) and will have them installed soon.

 

[rwh963]

another update: dropped off the 4runner with there caliper brackets ($75/ea). they got it on the lift, but realized that the brackets do not come with the slider pins and bushings, which was really the issue!! so more delay for everyone involved. had to order those additional parts from toyota ($60).

aftermarket caliper boxes come with everything included. toyota separates every part. i can put some of the blame on toyota parts. they should have suggested the brackets and hardware when ordering the caliper piston. also, the indie shop rejected the opportunity to examine the brake parts before starting the job. if the had, they should have spotted the missing components, and i could have ordered them before the job started.

lessons for everyone, i guess.

 

[rwh963]

hopefully final post on this repair. shop took the 4runner in again, and replaced the brackets, pins, bushings, and boots. so, rear brakes completely done with toyota product. hopefully i get another 200k out of them!